For the Love of the English Tongue

Adib Esa is a rare breed. He knows the importance of English at an early age and it now transmitting the language skills the best he can in all the opportunities God leads him into.

Let us read the engaging telling of his story.

"I remember an unforgettable incident when I was a Standard Three pupil in the outskirts of Pontian, Johor. I nervously sought my class teacher's permission to go to the toilet. The teacher was furious when I uttered "please teacher may I go up" instead of out.

From then on, I was told to pronounce the correct syllable in every sentence of a story. I was also given novels and short fiction stories by my kind-hearted teacher to brush up my command of the English language.

My proficiency progressed as I advanced into the secondary level where English was the medium in all subjects, except for Bahasa Malaysia and Religious Studies.

I took part in debates, dramas, choral speaking and other oratory contests organised at the school, zone and district levels. I even secured top marks for the subject in the then Senior Cambridge Examinations in 1966.
The following year, when I was 20, I became a teacher trainee at the now defunct Mohd Khalid Teachers College or MPMK, located beside SM Sultan Ismail and is now the site for Sekolah Seni and SM Mohd Khalid, both premier secondary schools.

My two years at MPMK was memorable as I was in the first batch of students to be admitted to its newly constructed premises.

I was an English teacher at several primary and secondary schools in Selangor and Johor for the next 18 years.

Although the standard of English among students and pupils of that era was eroding due to a change in the education policy, my students' interest in the subject was very encouraging.

My approach in introducing the subject was very informal. Initially, I requested the pupils to get a jotter book where they could fill in words and find their meanings in the dictionary.

They were also encouraged to write sentences from these words and were told to jot down quotes by listening to conversations on television or radio programmes.

Their efforts will then be discussed in the classroom. My technique succeeded as the students' standard of English improved tremendously.

This was proven by the high grades and marks they achieved in examinations.

My teaching style also produced students who could write short stories and articles. A few of them even sold their works to colleagues.

My teaching career ended in 1988 after I was posted to the Johor Education Department first as supervisor for student affairs and later, as supervisor for health education.

Both positions had little to do with English and I only held on to them for three years. In 1991, I finally secured a job I loved best, as senior state English supervisor and held on to it until 2003.

During my tenure, proficiency courses for English teachers and department personnel were organised in all districts at least twice a year.

As for the students, there were "Speak English Campaign" in schools, singing and choir competitions, poetry, choral speaking and many more.

A few years after retirement, I set up "JELTA" (Johor English Language Teachers Enterprise) along with a group of retired teachers and private teachers from learning and tuition centres throughout the state.

Since its inception, JELTA has organised a series of English courses and seminars on UPSR, PMR and SPM question-answer techniques for students.

Other targeted groups include pre-school teachers, private teachers of religious schools, and individuals eager to master the language.

Two years ago, I was elected the English coordinator for Felda English Language Centre and I also lecture at VSS Academy.

Early this year, I became a relief teacher of a government school under the Education Ministry's programme called "Kumpulan Guru Simpanan Kebangsaan" (National Relief Teachers' Group).

Although the government via the ministry had contributed efforts to enhance the standard of English among students, its objectives are still questionable.

English teachers, in particular, should be more proactive and prepare their lesson plans well before presenting them in the classroom.

A good, creative educator will do away with the traditional approach, and let the young present their ideas, communicate and write freely.

Child-centred learning is beneficial as it allows students to share their points through mind-webbing, brainstorming and words listing in the discussed topic. Teachers should only act as facilitators.

My advice for teachers is to sacrifice some time in learning to be more creative when teaching the subject.

Adib Esa, 63, stays in Bandar Baru Uda with his wife, Nahariah Abd Majid. They have three children and five grandchildren."

We must have more teachers passionate of this subject  such as Adib to ensure English continues to be upgraded in the coming years.

Car Loans- It's Up and Away

ajor bankers have upped interest rates on new non-national car loans has increased by an average of 0.25 percentage point effective yesterday while rates for new national car loans saw a hike of about 0.10 percentage point.

Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) president Datuk Aishah Ahmad said the hikes were likely to have a “small initial impact ” on car sales.

“Car companies may see a light impact at first but the increase is marginal and people will get used to the new rate,” she said when contacted by StarBiz.

 

Aishah said if there was any major impact, it would most likely be on companies that sold affordable, mass-market cars. “The high-end players would be less affected,” she added.

An EON Bank Bhd hire-purchase officer said the bank’s revised interest rates for new non-national cars were 3.5% (5-year tenure), 3.75% (7-year) and 3.85% (9-year).

Meanwhile, rates for new national cars now stood at 3.85% (5-year tenure), 4% (7-year) and 4.10% (9-year), he added.

Previously, new non-national car loan rates at EON Bank ranged from 3.25% to 3.5% while new national car loan rates were 3.75% to 4%, he said.

The last car loan rates increase was in March when the overnight policy rate (OPR), the benchmark interest rate that determines banks’ lending rates, was revised upward by 25 basis points.

On May 13, the central bank raised again the OPR by another 25 basis points to the current 2.5%.

Not too long ago, when the OPR was at a historical low of 2%, users used to pay only up to 2.8% interest rate for a new non-national car.

At the rate of 2.8% over nine years, a person borrowing RM80,000 would have paid about RM70 less per month compared with the one that borrows the same amount but at the current rate of 3.85%.

Nevertheless, MAA’s Aishah said the association would not revise its total industry volume forecast of 550,000 units for 2010, given the steady consumer confidence.

In 2009, sales volume stood at 536,905. Year-to-date sales stand at 196,121 units from 162,075 in the previous corresponding period.

Nasim Sdn Bhd director Samson George was unperturbed by the rate hike, saying that it was unlikely to have any impact on the company’s sales. Nasim is the official distributor of Peugeot cars in the country.

“Higher interest rates will have an impact on car sales in general but the profile of our customers are different, as they tend to be more affluent.”

Earlier this month, Edaran Tan Chong Motor Sdn Bhd executive director Datuk Dr Ang Bon Beng said the second increase in OPR to 2.5% would not have a major impact on vehicle buyers.

However, should the rate be raised by another 50 basis points by the year-end as predicted by some economists, the motor industry would be affected, he said.

Proton Edar Dealers Association Malaysia president Armin Baniaz Pahamin said that after the first round of OPR hike this year, the company was expecting an “adverse impact” on sales.

Yes, buy more cars for the banks, Proton and Perodua  to stay afloat. After all most of the cars on the road belongs to the banks. The old jalopies are self-owned , of course!

Subsidies: The Jala Myopia?

Dr. Mahathir, in his usual self, pooh-poohed Idris Jala's prediction of Malaysia going bankrupt if subsidies are not removed.

Let us read what the doyen has to say on the Jala Myopia.

"KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — Dr Mahathir Mahathir today downplayed the country’s debt situation, saying that Idris Jala was “exaggerating” when he remarked that Malaysia could face bankruptcy by 2019 if subsidies were not slashed.

The former prime minister argued that it would be a stretch to say that the country would go bankrupt although it could become “poor” if steps were not taken to address government spending.

“Perhaps Idris was exaggerating. We are not going to be bankrupt but we are going to be poor,” he told reporters during a media briefing on the Perdana Leadership Foundation and The New Club of Paris roundtable and public dialogue on the knowledge economy.


Idris Jala predicted Malaysia could be bankrupt by 2019 if it does not begin to cut subsidies for petrol, electricity, food and other staples, which cost RM74 billion last year.

But the Najib administration has said it is waiting for public feedback before deciding on actual cuts.

Najib Razak has also distanced himself from Idris’ warning and said that the minister’s estimations were merely based on Pemandu’s studies.

However, Dr Mahathir admitted that the government would have to cut subsidies if the country’s economic stagnation does not improve.

“When the country is doing well, most people are working and they are creating wealth and then the government will tax them but in a recession that is when most of the people are unemployed and yet that is the time when we need the most amount of money. At the time when the country is in recession and the government has no money,” he said.

He also warned that the government must cut subsidies gradually.

“We need to accept but I hope that the government will do this gradually and not suddenly pull the carpet from under your feet,” he said.

Dr Mahathir stressed that the public cannot solely depend on government aid.

“In Malaysia, we must accept that when prices of raw materials go up then the prices of the end-product must also go up. You know the prices of petrol during my time was US$30 but at one time it went up to US$140.

“Imagine the amount of money that the government has to roll out. Especially now when our country’s oil production has been reduced to less than 500,000 barrels per day and we use more than 400,000 barrels a day. Therefore we only have 100,000 barrels to sell,” he said."

It think that is fair comment.

The Cigarette Double U-Turns

It is now confirmed. Backpeddling is the name of  the game in Malaysia.

We should request our country to be named in the Guinness book of Records, not so much for making u-turns but more so for the string of them done in succession in such a short duration.

The latest is the U-turn to ban the sale of 14-stick cigarette packs.

Let us read on.

"This policy indecisiveness on the Government’s part may well spell the risk of dampening foreign investor sentiment towards the country.

The last-minute policy U-turn, confirmed last week by the Government, was totally unexpected and did not reflect well on the country as an ideal investment destination, especially among multinational companies, an industry observer said.

He said tobacco companies in Malaysia had actually started making adjustments for the ban on 14s pack since late last year.

“The sudden change in policy stance can be damaging to some companies in terms of competitiveness and lost business opportunities,” the industry observer explained.

“This is particularly so for those that have entirely phased out their production machinery for the smaller packs and exhausted their inventory of the products.”

Already, Philip Morris Sdn Bhd had made noise last week, threatening to take legal action over possible losses that it had to suffer due to the sudden policy deferment.

In Malaysia, tobacco is an oligopolistic industry dominated by three companies – British American Tobacco (M) Bhd (BAT), JT International Bhd (JTI) and Philip Morris.

Besides stiff competition amid a declining industry volume, tobacco companies also have to deal with illicit cigarettes, which, according to the Customs Department, is now at an all-time high of 38% of the total industry in the country.

“Definitely, there are going to be losers and gainers,”  A TA Research analyst said.“And depending on which perspective one is coming from, the policy deferment could actually be helping some companies to adapt, as the longer grace period could give them more room to manoeuvre.”

The rationale given by the Government was that it was not “withdrawing” the ban, but merely postponing it to January next year. This is to allow tobacco manufacturers more time to make the necessary changes and migrate their consumers over to the 20s pack.

The Government’s latest move to “extend the life for legal 14s pack” was also seen by some as a measure to curb the growth of illegal cigarettes. Already faced with the pressure of higher cost of living, more consumers, are going for the lower-priced contraband cigarettes.

The Government earlier noted that the exemption for regulations 9 and 16 of the Control of Tobacco Product Regulations 2004, which banned the manufacturing and sale of cigarette packs with less than 20 sticks, actually extended to the end of this year.

Most analysts saw BAT as the major benefactor of the policy deferment, as the company had the highest exposure to the 14s pack, which accounted for almost 50% of its sales.

The extension of the shelf life of the 14s packs means BAT could still derive revenue from this segment, which generally have higher profit margin compared with the 20s pack, for another six months.

On the other hand, there seemed to a consensus view that the effect on JTI was rather neutral, as the company had never been that dependent on its smaller-pack version in the first place.

The 14s-pack segment accounted for only around 30% of its sales. JTI’s forte had been on its value-for-money 20s pack segment."

Well, let us wait for the next U-turn or backpedal.

Postscript:

Hey, no need to wait. The Cabinet made another U-turn on their earlier U-turn and enforced the ban beginning this month. Walla!

No more subsidy for foreign students from July

As Idris Jala rambles on about subsidy and belt tightening, he forgot the leakage of subsidising foreign students. What gives? In classic salesman's parlance. "Tell your would-be customer what they need to know only.Don't tell them what they do not need to know!"

So, now Nordin spills the beans!

"Starting July this year, foreign students in Malaysia will have to pay their course fees in full because the government no longer subsidise them," Higher Education Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin said.

Then,he put out an assurance as well saying local students will continued to be subsidised.

'This would mean that the amount of fees to be paid by foreign students would be the same as those imposed by private institutions of higher learning,' he added.

'I would like to assure the people that we have no plan to abolish the subsidy for local students in public higher learning institutions'.

"For foreign students, however, we no longer allow the provision of any kind of subsidy," he told reporters after presenting the letter of approval to Inti International University here today.

Mohamed Khaled said previously, some public higher learning institutions offered subsidised fees to attract international students.[You got to be joking seriously!]

"However, these universities have now grown in strength and are able to attract international students on their own without the subsidy. These students need to pay the fees in full," he said.

On the elevation of Inti University College to Inti International University, Mohamed Khaled said the institution fulfilled the criteria to be elevated into a university. [ I guess this is the right thing to do if they have actually achieve such standards. [Was an international academic audit been done on Inti to ensure enduring standards?]

He said that the recognition given to the university would help make Malaysia a higher education hub.

Inti International University, located in Nilai, Negri Sembilan, was set up in 1998 and has 5,500 students.

Morbid Month of May for Stocks

Most investors are looking forward to the month of June - and for good reason. The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its worst May since 1940. [I think most markets did not fare any better after the May drubbing,no thanks to Greece!]

For the month, the Dow fell 7.9 per cent, the S&P shed 8.2 per cent and the Nasdaq lost 8.3 per cent. The declines were the worst for the Dow and S&P since February 2009 while the Nasdaq suffered its worst monthly drop since November 2008.

Europe was equally stung. The Dow Stoxx 600 hit an eight-month low on May 25, and Friday's decision by Fitch to downgrade the credit ratings of Spain suggests more tough times lie ahead.

Fitch cutting Spain by one notch to AA+, assigning it a "stable" outlook, according to a statement from London on Friday couldn't come at a worst time. It was double jeopardy! Spain has held the top rating at Fitch since 2003. Standard & Poor’s lowered Spain’s ratings to AA on April 28. The cut came days after Spanish lawmakers approved a round of austerity measures by a single vote.

"The process of adjustment to a lower level of private sector and external indebtedness will materially reduce the rate of growth of the Spanish economy over the medium-term," Brian Coulton, Fitch’s head of Europe, Middle East and Africa sovereign ratings in London, said in the statement.

The downgrade set aside news from a day earlier that China continued to view Europe as a key investment area, comments which sparked rallies across Europe and on Wall Street. [This speculative interpretation also worsened market situation!]

Yet, in keeping with the wild swings in volatility that seem to have become the norm recently, investors on Friday opted to sell.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 1.19 per cent. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 1.24 per cent. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.91 per cent.

For the week, the Dow slid 0.6 per cent. The S&P 500 gained 0.2 per cent and the Nasdaq added 1.3 per cent.

"Up until now it's been mostly Greece and the threat of Spain and Portugal and Ireland," Terry Morris, senior equity manager for National Penn Investors Trust Company in Reading, Pennsylvania, told Reuters.

"With Fitch actually downgrading Spain, it seems as if it is no longer a hypothetical, the contagion is now real."

Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 wealthy and developing economies will gather in South Korea this week to review Europe's debt crisis, financial reforms and efforts to rebalance the global economy. The meeting will lay the groundwork for a summit of G20 leaders in Toronto later in June.

With both the UK and US markets closed on Monday because of holidays, many investors will have a few more days to think about where to place their next bets.

In terms of the economic outlook, the US recovery appears to be shifting back a gear after rebounding at a faster pace earlier in the year.

This week there’s a glut of US data.

On Tuesday, there will be a report on construction spending in April and the ISM manufacturing index for May.

Wednesday's reports include Challenger layoffs data for May and US pending home sales for April with the latter seen rising 3.3 per cent, according to a Reuters poll.

Thursday's data includes the ADP national employment report, forecast to show an increase of 51,000 and the government's weekly initial jobless claims.

Later that day, April factory orders, expected to rise 1 per cent, and the ISM services index for May, expected at 55.6, will be released.

The US non-farm payrolls data will round out the week on Friday. The government report is expected to show 425,000 new jobs for the month, up from 290,000 in April, with the unemployment rate falling to 9.8 per cent from 9.9 per cent.

The US dollar is expected to fall against the euro in the coming week with investors betting that most of the bad news on European fiscal woes is already priced in with the single currency's 7 per cent decline in May.

Euro zone sovereign debt concerns remain in spite of a near US$1 trillion safety net set up by European officials to ward off any contagion from Greece, but investors are willing to bet that at least for now, the euro has touched solid support.

This was so particularly after China's Central Bank this week discounted a Financial Times report that Beijing was concerned about its euro zone bond holdings.

And though the monthly US jobs report is scheduled for Friday, investors are only likely to take their focus from Europe if tensions on the Korean Peninsula explode into conflict.

"It's probably dollar down a little bit with the fire put out for now in Europe," said TJ Marta, chief market strategist at Marta on the Markets in Scotch Plains, New Jersey.

"The euro could see a short covering rally but all bets are off if there is more risk." The euro last traded at US$1.2347.

For the week, the euro fell 1.6 per cent against the U.S. dollar, while the U.S. dollar rose 0.7 per cent against the yen. For the month, the euro fell 7.2 per cent against the U.S. dollar, while the U.S. dollar fell 3.2 per cent against the yen.

Any escalation from rhetoric to a border skirmish in Korea would rattle investors and prompt a flight into the relative safety of the US dollar. The yen would also gain, analysts said, with investors seen selling euro against yen.

Axiata: Upward Momentum

Axiata Group Bhd was upgraded to “buy” from “hold” at HwangDBS Vickers Sdn Bhd, with a raised share forecast of RM4.50.

The research house said in a report today it also increased the mobile phone company’s earnings estimate by 46 per cent for its 2010 financial year and by 39 per cent for 2011.

Its shares climbed 1.1 per cent to RM3.73 at 9:04 am local time, set for their highest close since May 19.-- Bloomberg